Kochi, Apr 02: The Kerala High Court today declined to interfere in the order of the inquiry commissioner and special judge, Thrissur, closing the complaint against excise minister K V Thomas regarding amassment of wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, by accepting the vigilance report. Justice N Krishnan Nair dismissed the revision petition filed by Biju C Valluvanadan, challenging the order of the special judge.

The petitioner alleged that the special judge should have referred the complaint to the vigilance department for an investigation under section 156 (3) of the criminal procedure code, after registering a crime.
Rejecting the argument, the High Court was of the view that before invoking section 156 (3) of CRPC, the court should satisfy that there was prima facie material to indicate that the offence had been committed by the accused. The court observed that if the petitioner was aggrieved by the order of the vigilance judge, he was at liberty to file a protest complaint before the same court. Bureau Report